Crazy in Poughkeepsie - Daniel Pinkwater

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Author: Daniel Pinkwater

Series: Neddie & Friends, Book 6
Genre: Middle grade fiction.
Rating: 2.75 stars.

In a Nutshell: This began well but after about a third into it, my attention started wandering due to the lack of a clear plotline. (Keep in mind that this is for children and I haven’t been one for decades!) So yeah, kids might enjoy it more.

Story:
Mick’s elder brother Maurice has returned from a sojourn to the Himalayas. Accompanying him is a Guru Lumpo Smythe-Finkel and his dog Lhasa, who had been brought along for Maurice to learn “guru stuff” such as levitation and vanishing. When Lumpo doesn’t perform in this task, Maurice dumps him on Mick. Now Mick has to share his room with Lumpo, and also follow whatever he says as Lumpo considers Mick his new disciple. Soon, they set off on a vague quest that involves their meeting several characters, both friendly and weird.
The story is written in the first person pov of Mick.


The book is a very quick read. The chapters are extremely short (39 chapters in 192 pages!) and the story moves ahead with every turn of the page. The end of each chapter is marked by a cutesy illustration.

The book reminded me a lot of old Enid Blyton works, where you have a few central characters and they move from adventure to adventure. Here, while the overall story itself is one adventure, it seems to be divided in distinct events. As such, there is an episodic sort of feel to the book.

The writing is chock-a-block with silly, almost bizarre humour that kids might enjoy more than I did. One of the characters is an environmental fanatic, and courtesy him, there are also plentiful messages about environmental awareness.

Daniel Pinkwater seems to be a popular children’s book writer, but I have read only one of his books prior to this, so I am not very aware of his general writing style. I had liked that book better than this one. This story was too haphazard for my taste. I prefer my books to have a firm plot. Then again, this is for children so I suppose it will work better for them.

Recommended to those middle graders who are looking for a different kind of adventure story with fun moments and wacky characters.

2.75 stars from me. Might have been a tad higher had I been in my tweens.

My thanks to Tachyon Publications for the DRC of “Crazy in Poughkeepsie”. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book.

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